Journalist: Snowden Fled US Fearing Unfair Trial

HONG KONG - 2013: In this handout photo provided by The Guardian, Edward Snowden speaks during an interview in Hong Kong. Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA, revealed details of top-secret surveillance conducted by the United States' National Security Agency regarding telecom data. (Photo by The Guardian via Getty Images)

A journalist says the American intelligence contractor who disclosed U.S. government surveillance programs fled to Hong Kong because he believed he wouldn't get a fair trial in his home country. (Photo by The Guardian via Getty Images)

HONG KONG (AP) — A journalist says the American intelligence contractor who disclosed U.S. government surveillance programs fled to Hong Kong because he believed he wouldn’t get a fair trial in his home country.

Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian newspaper said Monday that Edward Snowden chose the semiautonomous Chinese region because it was the least bad option open to him.

Greenwald said Snowden wants to remain out of the “clutches” of the U.S. government for as long as possible but is fully aware that he won’t succeed.

Snowden says he worked as a contractor at the National Security Agency and the CIA.

Snowden allowed The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers to reveal his identity on Sunday as the source of a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs.